I was so excited to read this book but unfortunately it's a DNF for me. I think I wanted it to be Buffy which is what let me down. I did not feel any connection towards the main character and din't care about the store.

DNF at 20%

"Being chosen is easy. Making choices will break your heart."

Buffyfans, rejoice! Everyone else (if there are even people in this world who haven't seen Buffy yet): go watch Buffy and then read this book. Because I do not know if you'd get anything out of it if you're not familiar with Buffy "Beep me when the apocalypse happens" Summers.

This story is set after the series and comics detailing Buffy the Vampire Slayer's quest to rid the world of evil.
We follow Athena, a young girl at the Watcher's training academy who - spoiler alert - does not have what it takes to be a watcher. Until one day, she turns out to be a Slayer - the last Slayer ever, to be exact. And chaos, as it always does in the Buffyverse, ensues.

The bulk of Slayer follows Athena's inner struggle between being a watcher and accepting her fate as the last Slayer. While I really liked Athena working through that struggle and ultimately understanding that she doesn't have to see everything in such binary terms, I feel like this could have been resolved with at least one hundred pages less than it took to get to that point.
As usually happens with White's books, the middle portion of the book dragged a bit and was very repetitive, but the ending
What I like about White's books is that even though I usually guess the major plot twist early on, I still am invested enough in the story to read on and see how the plot unfolds and makes way for the new world after everything goes to hell. It's a trait many authors lack, but White excels at.

There were so many amazing parts of this book (the lovable demon Doug who just wants to go to Coldplay concerts, Leo Silvera, Athena's old crush and now watcher) but the most important is this: Kiersten White nails the Buffy humor. There are so many pop culture references and sarcastic remarks that just made me feel so nostalgic for the original series.

Honestly, the only thing I didn't like about this book were some of the characters and their irrational feelings and behavior. Athena's hatred for Buffy irked me (which was probably why it was such a major plot point, because we hardcore Buffy fans needed to be reminded of why we love Buffy in the first place, let's be honest) and I straight up hated Honora. And sadly, I really disliked Athena's twin sister Artemis for still being friends (and maybe more) with Honora despite how she treats Athena. It just felt so unlike their sisterly bond that Artemis would be with someone so spiteful to her own sister. I also had some major issues with some of the more static characters in the novel. I do hope they will be expanded on in the sequel, but for now, I was a bit disappointed by the lack of personality of some of them. Or the way they were just discarded? Rhys is supposedly Athena's best friend and it feels like he's missing for half of the narrative. Or gets no lines, that is.

Other than that, I think this book is a wonderful addition to the Buffyverse and a great gift for the Buffy lover in your life. The story ended in quite the cliffhanger (and a swoonworthy one at that), so I am stoked for the sequel!

I received a free ebook version of this through Netgalley. Thankyou to both Netgalley and the publisher! My review is still honest.

My review is coming from a different place to the majority of reviews that I've seen. This is a book based in the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a cult TV series that everybody seems to love-and that I have very little knowledge of. I know only very basic plot details about the show and have never really watched it. I wasn't aware of the connection to Buffy when I requested it and was worried that I wouldn't understand it. I'm happy to say that I did still enjoy this despite not having any background on the story, and while I'm sure I missed a ton of references and backstory, I did understand what was going on and White explains most of the concepts.
I don't think this book was mind-blowing or a new favourite, but it was so damn entertaining! It was addictive, it did have a TV quality to it that just made it really captivating and I had so much fun reading this. The demon system and system of Slayers and Watchers was an interesting one to learn about for the first time, and I enjoyed the mix of paranormal, horror and family drama that just created what was quite a unique story. I liked the main character and the constant conflict she went through between her natures, and there are some other characters that I just really loved hating. It was just a really fun time-highly recommend if you're a Buffy fan as it is actually a good standalone book (don't ask me how it compares to the TV series) or if you're a paranormal fan in general.

Thank you to netgalley and Simon and Schuster for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Although I hadn’t watched all of Buffy I still found the book interesting and after reading it, it actually made me want to go watch Buffy!

So this book is set after the events that happen at the end of the show, Buffy. However I felt like I was able to keep up with what was happening despite not having watched the show fully. I do feel that I probably missed some references to the show that fans of the show would pick up on but it didn’t really detract from my enjoyment of the book.

The book started of quite slow and we get a lot of information about what is going on and what has happened to the watchers and we get Artemis and Athena’s back story throughout the book too. It did take me a while to really get into the story but I did enjoy the second half a lot more than the first half.

The story itself is interesting with plenty of intrigue and suspense. You don’t know who to trust and everyone has a secret. We slowly learn what everyone is hiding throughout the book and how these secrets change relationships and the course of events. I also found that some things become quite repetitive which I found a bit annoying for example Athena’s feelings towards Buffy is repeated again and again.

Athena who is known as Nina to everyone, was the main character who learns she’s a slayer, which basically makes her a badass, but I found her to be quite irritating most of the time. I found it quite difficult to like her at times and felt that she spends too much time focusing on how everyone has wronged her in some way. I get that she has had a difficult life but then so had all the other teenagers she grew up with.

I did want to see more of the other characters as I felt we don’t get enough of them to really have great depth to the characters. Though I did enjoy reading about Rhys and Cillian. I loved how Rhys was a total booknerd and how cute him and Cillian were together.

We do get several plot twists throughout the book and while I predicted a few there is one at the end that I did not see coming at all. The ending was a lot more fast paced and lots of things are revealed. I liked how Athena uses her strengths to fight at the end and feel like that is when she truly becomes her own person and someone I can root for.

I think if you love Buffy or books with vampires and slayers then give this book a read as I think Buffy fans will enjoy the book.

I don't really many novelizations or spin-off novelizations of TV shows, but I couldn't resist this one, especially since Kiersten White was the author. In the end, I mostly enjoyed it.

The story was fast paced and fun, though predictable at times, and it had a cast of characters that I really enjoyed reading about (though a few definitely had their frustrating moments). The book reminded me why I love Kiersten White as an author.

The main issue I had, and probably the thing that held me back from really loving it, was that it didn't feel like a Buffy-verse story to me -- sure, it used some names and references from the show but mostly it just felt like its own separate thing with it's own vibe going on and had a few details been tweaked it wouldn't have felt like a Buffy spin off at all.

That wasn't a terrible thing...because it was a good story in its own right, it was only an issue because when it's a spin-off, it becomes very hard not to compare to the source material and in the end I found myself wanting to rewatch Buffy instead of pining for the sequel to this story (though the sequel will definitely be on my TBR when it's out).

I'd rate the book 4 out of 5 stars.

Full disclosure. I never watched Buffy. I know a little about it and some character names. But not big plot points. I thought this book sounded fantastic and I loved the cover so much. I’ve been looking for a sword (or other) wielding heroine for a while.

I went ahead and requested this book and hoped that even though it’s a spin off I would still be able to follow and I totally could. There was one event that involved Buffy that appears to be the catalyst for this book. I don’t know if it was something that happened in the tv show or something specific to the book. Otherwise I feel like these were brand new characters and events.

I loved this book hard. I loved the depictions of the monsters and demons, I love how quietly strong Nina always was but especially how powerful and badass she became as the book progressed and that she did so without loosing herself or leaving anyone behind. I love that this book looks set to be start of a really exciting series. I love that I thought I knew who the good guys and the bad guys were and that several times it was all thrown up in the air.

This is the book I’ve been looking for since I started watching Legacies and I couldn’t be more thrilled to have found it. I am already anticipating the next book in this series!

Being a huge fan of Buffy the Vampire slayer, this book had me excited but my expectations were high.

It was a really flat read and i really had to push myself through the book to try finishing it. I didn't think there was enough story building/descriptions and the plot never really seemed to go anywhere. The main character is extremely off putting with her constant whining, blaming, guilt ridden emotions. The story came across quite juvenile and immature. I put the book down at 50% to give myself a break then went back to the book.

I liked Nina's group of friends purely because I was reminded of Buffy's Scooby gang. I enjoyed the references and cameos of Buffy and her gang. The last 50% made up for the first 50% but still weak in my opinion.

I gave the book 3 stars. I hope with the next book (if to go by the cliffhanger) has a lot more action and a deeper plot line.

I unfortunately didn’t finish this book, stopped reading at 31%. I just couldn’t get into the world and didn’t think it would get better. Maybe it’s because I haven’t watched the Buffy series? I don’t really know.

A Slayer is born into every generation...for people of a certain age, you know what’s coming next...and this is the start of what can best be described as a Buffy spin-off series.
Athena and Artemis are twins. When we first meet them they are young girls, caught up in a fire and only one of them is saved. We only see this event through the eyes of the mysterious Hunter figure. Someone who we know is close to the girls, someone who wants to carve out their place in history by destroying a prophecy and someone that we only hear from periodically throughout the book.
Much of the book focuses on Nina (as Athena prefers to be called) learning that she has - after the hellmouth was closed - been given the power of a Slayer. She’s not happy about this as it goes against everything she believes in as a healer. She takes it upon herself to start investigating the appearance of demons, kill the odd hellhound and generally get caught up in all manner of strange events. All while suffering angst over her crush on old friend Leo, now returned as her watcher.
There’s no escaping the obvious love and respect for her source material that White has. There’s numerous references to events fans of the show will remember, and some wonderful characters/dynamics. I was struck by the action of the novel, and couldn’t help but laugh out loud at some of the moments.
There were also moments of exquisite sadness. You’ll know them when you come to them, and the ending certainly had me cheering for our Slayer. Not quite Buffy...but something new, and something exciting.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this in exchange for my thoughts.

I gobbled this up in one sitting! You can;t help but be swept up by nostalgia and Kiersten's obvious love for the Buffy series. The action is fast-paced, the characters alive and I now have the overwhelming to binge watch every Buffy episode from my teens!

An absolute blinder of a book, more geared towards fans of Buffy than newbies to the world of the most badass vampire slayer there ever was, but excellent nonetheless.
White has dropped in enough reminders to jog the reader’s memories of past events in the Buffy canon which thankfully don’t overwhelm what turns out to be a great narrative all on its very own.
Demons, slayers, vampires, watchers and plenty of awkward, devastating relationships, Nina’s awakening as the last slayer is a journey worth indulging in. I look forward to seeing where the story can possibly go next.

I really, really wanted this to be good. Buffy was THE show of my teenage years. I had all the books, I had the merchandise. And Kiersten White writes fantastic, plotty, dark novels. How could this go wrong?

Sadly, at least for me, it did. It's set after the comics, which is great if you've read them. I hadn't. I mostly managed to follow along, but I found it difficult. I felt I was expected to just know a lot of the background.

I understand there needs to be conflict for a book to have a plot, but basically everything in this novel happened because characters didn't tell each other very important things. Granted, several of them are teens, but they continued not telling each other even when caught in compromising circumstances, so there was far too many scenes of Character A telling Character B "I know this looks bad, but it isn't," with absolutely no further explanation. The bad guy was obvious (again, to me, others may have a different reaction) as soon as they appeared on screen. So was the decoy bad guy.

And this is a minor one, but it really irked me; Ireland has not used the pound since 2002, when Buffy was busy fighting the Troika. Maybe this was meant to show how distracted Nina's mother was, that she gave her the wrong currency without thinking, but I'd expect Nina to comment on it if so.

Edited to add; I did very much appreciate that no one in the whole book said 'begorrah' or 'top o'the morning to you' or any other Irish cliches. That was good restraint on Kiersten's part.

This novel could be saved, and I'll keep reading the series. Because I believe Kiersten is better than this.


Thank you very much for allowing me to read it.

I have to be honest, although it physically pains me to do so; this book is not as good as I hoped. Other readers may love it! I sincerely hope they do. It just fell straight into one of my least favourite tropes; the whole plot turns on people not telling each other things, even important things, even when telling each other those things would clear up misconceptions or make things more understandable. Tip to teenage guys; if you're trying to get a teenage girl somewhere safe from a danger she doesn't know about yet, don't just sling her over your shoulder and carry her into the forest while saying ominous things into your phone. Actually explain to her what you're doing. Especially if she's the Slayer; it'll spare you some broken ribs when she gets sick of it.

I'll keep reading this series, because I think there's a good story under there and I'd like to see what happens next. Hopefully the characters will be a bit more communicative next time.

Having never watched or read anything Buffy The Vampire Slayer related i was a bit cautious going in to this however there is enough explanation that i was able to read this without any prior knowledge of the universe.

I liked Nina and found parts of this story to be quite funny which is always a plus for me. Whilst fairly predictable, the story line was also pretty good with great action scenes.
However i wasn't the biggest fan of the villains and found myself wishing they were scarier and more fleshed out and i wasn't the biggest fan of Artemis either.

I think if you're a fan of Buffy you'll really enjoy this addition to the series

Thank you for the copy of this novel however, I struggled to get attached to the characters, the plot felt incredibly predictable, and the writing was not for me at all.

I found Nina to be annoying and depressing in her inner dialogue explaining that her role was not worth anything and how her own mother literally left her behind (shitty parents) and that I should feel sorry for her, but we already know from the blurb and the prophecy she was translating that was was actually the Chosen One. Why not start with that?

I am sure others will enjoy this story a lot more than I did, it just depends on what you look for when you read.

Xoxo
Jane

What a wonderful addition to the Buffy franchise. It remained true to everything a reader would know of Slayers and Watchers, adding in familiar names without making it feel forced.
I was hooked from the first chapter and really warmed to all the characters from the outset. The mystery element was what made me frantic to get to the end; my heart in my mouth.
I could see this as a tv series and Kiersten White made that very easy; the action was well written and encorporated into a well told story. I just can’t wait for what happens next.

Thank you Kiersten for such an amazing read. Thank you Netgalley for allowing access. Please, do not hesitate to get in touch if you need the book promoting at all. I will be placing an extended review on my blog www.qeensofgeekdom.com closer to the publishing date.

Thank you to Netgalley, Simon & Schuster and Kiersten White for my arc of Slayer.
The Buffy retelling we've all been waiting for! Well kind of!
Athena (known as Nina) and her sister Artemis have been brought up in the world of Demons and Slayers. In every generation a Slayer is born and the watchers are there to protect them. The girl's father was Buffy's own watcher but now he's dead, Buffy has saved the world again in unconventional means and managed to rid the world of Magic at the same time and half the watchers have been wiped out. Oh yeah and everyone is pretty pissed at Buffy.

Nina has never felt special in the watcher community, Artemis is the fierce fighter and the one who protects Nina, so nobody is more surprised than her when she discovers she's not just a Slayer but the last Slayer ever, having found her powers the day Magic was purged from the world.

I really liked this book, I totally didn't mind that it wasn't a full Buffy retelling, in fact I think I liked it more for it. Athena's character was great and so was her story. I liked the idea that not everybody loved and worshipped Buffy and that not everything was black and white. One thing that did annoy me was Nina's Sister Artemis. She was jealous, spiteful and frankly treat Nina like a baby. Even with an explanation this still wasn't ok with me. Nina seemed to blame herself for the way her sister treated her and really I just thought she was out of order. Same applies to Honora.

Overall I found this book brought something really different to the table and I'm excited to read more in this series!